Talley Dunn Gallery Equity in the Arts Fellowship
Nuestra Collective from left: Michelle Cortes Gonzales, Tesa Morin, Melissa Gámez Herrera, Eliana Miranda, Lupita Murillo-Tinnen, Karla García, Tina Medina, Sara Herrera
Fellowship
Talley Dunn Gallery is honored to announce the 2023 – 2024 Equity in the Arts Fellowship has been awarded to Nuestra Collective. The gallery is excited to recognize and support this group of talented artists: Michelle Cortes Gonzales, Tesa Morin, Melissa Gámez Herrera, Eliana Miranda, Lupita Murillo-Tinnen, Karla García, Tina Medina, and Sara Herrera.
Nuestra Collective aims to build connections that support our communities and create art projects and exhibitions that explore the intersections of identity, culture, and politics in Texas. Nuestra Collective’s mission is “a platform for women artists, including cis and trans women, non-binary and gender non-conforming people, to encourage dialogue about the experiences of Xicana and Latine women.”
Nuestra Artist Collective es una plataforma para mujeres artistas, incluidas mujeres cis y trans, personas no binarias y de género no conforme, para fomentar el diálogo sobre las experiencias de las mujeres Xicana y Latine. Nuestro objetivo es construir conexiones que apoyen a nuestras comunidades y crear proyectos de arte y exhibiciones que exploren las intersecciones de identidad, cultura y política en Texas.
Mission
Talley Dunn Gallery strongly believes in creating opportunities for racial equity in the arts community. The Talley Dunn Gallery Equity in the Arts Fellowship strives to foster the development of Black and Indigenous artists and other artists of color in North Texas, whose artmaking forms the backbone of our cultural landscape. In line with Talley Dunn Gallery’s longstanding commitment to anti-racism in our community, the gallery pledges to provide the fellowship with a minimum of $30,000 of funding over five years with the hope that it continues indefinitely. This fellowship will be just one component of a larger vision for programming and resources the gallery will invest in supporting Black and Indigenous artists and other artists of color.
Art institutions are complicit in the conscious and unconscious ways artists of color have been denied equal access to resources for success in the arts. These social inequalities can only be remedied with explicit actions to structurally change our unspoken norms. Talley Dunn Gallery acknowledges the social and economic injustices artists of color face and is committed to advancing racial equity through the support of those whose voices are vital in our communities.
2023 Recipients – Meet Nuestra Collective
Michelle Cortez Gonzales is a Fort Worth multidisciplinary artist. As a third-generation Mexican American, she examines the personal and emotional consequences of cultural loss. She earned her BFA from the University of Texas at Arlington, and MFA from the University of Dallas. She’s exhibited in various shows throughout Texas and has been awarded residencies from Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts (2021), and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. She was the recipient of the 2023 NEA: Challenge America Grant from the Dallas District Colleges. In addition to her studio practice, she works as a public art project manager with Arts Fort Worth.
Melissa Gámez-Herrera is an interdisciplinary artist who works in photography, bookmaking, and other multimedia practices. Her work speaks on violations of human rights and the way art can be used to interpret and create a pathway to collective healing. She is from San Antonio, TX and earned a BA in Art and Art History from Colgate University. She also earned an MFA in Studio Art Photography from the University of North Texas in 2020. Melissa has participated in exhibitions throughout the state of Texas. She is a grantee of the City of San Antonio Individual Artist Grant in 2023.
Mexican-born, American-based artist Karla García creates sculptures and installations influenced by her Mexican heritage and life in the Texas-Mexico borderlands. She earned her MFA in Ceramics from the University of North Texas in 2019. García is represented by 12.26 Gallery in Dallas, Texas. She was an artist resident at 100 W Corsicana, and exhibits nationally and internationally. She has been published in the Nasher Magazine, Scalawag, and NPR Morning Edition. Her work is currently on view at the Old Jail Art Center for the Cell Series installation When the Grass Stands Still.
Sara Herrera is a performing artist, choreographer, and educator. Originally from Fort Worth, TX, Sara has taught dance and showcased work in DC, NYC, NJ, ME, TX, MD, VA, NC, PA and Italy. Sara received her BFA in Modern Dance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, where she now resides. Sara’s work is driven by personal stories using movement as a powerful medium to explore and interpret the complexities of the world. Her choreography is a bridge, forging connections and providing catharsis for all who experience it.
Tina Medina is an artist, educator, and curator living in Dallas, Texas. Originally from West Texas, she earned her BFA at Texas Tech University and MFA at the University of North Texas and is a Dallas College art professor. Medina’s art was exhibited most recently in Soy de Tejas, a statewide survey of Latinx art in San Antonio. As co-founder of Nuestra Artist Collective, she collaboratively organized exhibitions of Texas women artists in Dallas (2022) and San Antonio (2023). Through a mixed media approach Medina’s art represents Mexican American voices in our community.
Eliana Miranda is an artist and co-founder of Nuestra Artist Collective. In 2010, she completed her BA from Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., and her MFA in 2015 from the University of Dallas. Her work explores ecological disasters that stem from climate change and the influence on the migration of people headed towards the U.S./ Mexico border. She’s been in numerous exhibitions including Latino Americans 500 Years of History at Idaho State University and the AMOA Biennial 600: Justice• Equality• Race• Identity at the Amarillo Museum of Art. Her work has been in D Magazine, KERA, and the Dallas Observer.
Tesa Morin is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, photography, and textiles. Her recent series titled Borders/Boundaries explores her studies of physical and psychological boundaries. Personal history informs Morin’s experience as a Texan and an artist. She was born in Spain to American parents. Her mother left the country with the children, leaving her father behind, so they could avoid the political unrest of the post-Franco era. Morin received her BFA from Texas Tech University and her MFA from the University of North Texas. She is an online adjunct professor of art for Collin College.
Lupita Murillo Tinnen was born in Fort Worth, Texas. She serves as Dean of Fine Arts and Education at Collin College Plano Campus. Tinnen earned a Ph.D. in Aesthetic Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her dissertation addressed the historical portrayal of immigrants in documentary photography, the use of the photograph for social advocacy, and defined methods for the post documentary. She holds an MFA in Photography from the University of North Texas and a BA in Photography from Texas A&M-Commerce. Her work focuses on cultural and personal issues stemming from her background as a first-generation Mexican American.